[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 13034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03485]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following 
information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Comments 
are requested regarding; whether the collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; the 
accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden including the validity of 
the methodology and assumptions used; ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Comments regarding this information collection received by March 
22, 2024 will be considered. Written comments and recommendations for 
the proposed information collection should be submitted within 30 days 
of the publication of this notice on the following website 
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular information 
collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function. An agency may not 
conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless the collection of 
information displays a currently valid OMB control number and the 
agency informs potential persons who are to respond to the collection 
of information that such persons are not required to respond to the 
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB 
control number.

Food and Nutrition Service

    Title: Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-Waiver Requests to Offer 
Incentives to SNAP Recipients at SNAP Authorized Stores.
    OMB Control Number: 0584-NEW.
    Summary of Collection: SNAP equal treatment provisions at 7 CFR 
278.2(b) and 7 CFR 274.7(f) require that SNAP recipients receive 
treatment equal to that received by other customers at all stores 
authorized to participate in SNAP with the exception that sales tax may 
not be charged on eligible foods purchased with SNAP benefits. This 
equal treatment provision prohibits both negative treatment (such as 
discriminatory practices) as well as preferential treatment (such as 
incentive programs). Pursuant to Section 4008 of the Agriculture 
Improvement Act of 2018, Public Law 115-334 (2018 Farm Bill), 
individual SNAP authorized retailers (or private organizations or 
governmental entities, which partner with authorized stores) may 
request that FNS waive the SNAP equal treatment provisions in order to 
be allowed to implement an incentive program the meets the requirements 
under 7 U.S.C. 2018(j) to encourage SNAP recipients to purchase 
healthier foods. Most SNAP authorized stores that offer incentives to 
SNAP recipients are either farmers' markets or part of a federally 
funded grant program that is authorized by statute, including the Gus 
Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) administered by the 
USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), and the 
Healthy Fluid Milk Incentive (HFMI) project administered by the Food 
and Nutrition Service.
    Need and Use of the Information: Farmers markets are authorized to 
provide incentives to SNAP recipients under a blanket FNS waiver of the 
SNAP equal treatment provision, specifically for farmers' markets. Only 
incentive projects that are funded outside of a Federal grant, other 
than projects funded by farmers' markets, are required to have a waiver 
from FNS to provide incentives to SNAP households at authorized SNAP 
retailer locations. FNS provided incentive waivers to SNAP retailers 
prior to passage of the 2018 Farm Bill under FNS' regular waiver 
process and has been providing the waivers under a streamlined approach 
since 2020. Over the past 3 years, FNS has received an average of nine 
incentive waiver requests that generally cover multiple retailer 
locations, and we expect those numbers to increase over the next 5 
years. With this new streamlined process, the Department estimates that 
out of 254,350 authorized retailers that participate in our program, 
approximately 730 different retailers would be covered under 15 
different incentive waiver requests annually.
    Description of Respondents: State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 15.
    Frequency of Responses: Reporting: Annually.
    Total Burden Hours: 30.

Rachelle Ragland-Greene,
Acting Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-03485 Filed 2-20-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P